


Room To Breathe

by Dogsocks



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Claustrophobia, M/M, Panic Attacks, Trapped In Elevator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 12:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7715032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dogsocks/pseuds/Dogsocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iwaizumi is claustrophobic to begin with, but elevators freak him out the worst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Room To Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I really like the idea of Iwaizumi being claustrophobic for some reason, so I wrote this on a whim at 1 am. Hope you enjoy!

Oikawa is thoroughly exhausted as he and Iwaizumi walk down the hallway. The school that the team is going to for a training camp with a few other teams is too far to drive safely to in one day, so they all have to stay in some cheap hotel for the night. It's not great, but it's fine for just one night, anyways.

Oikawa limps slightly as they make their way through the lobby. He can see Iwaizumi out of the corner of his eye, glancing over occasionally with a soft look of concern before looking forward again. For once, Iwaizumi doesn't say anything about the way Oikawa eases off his bad knee, and Oikawa sighs heavily, knowing exactly why. It's the same reason he took forever getting off the bus so that they were both slightly behind the group.

Oikawa finally looks over at Iwaizumi all the way. To most, he would look no different than his normal self, but Oikawa can tell he's nervous. He can see it in the way the crease of his eyebrows is just slightly softer, worry and apprehension hidden behind a nearly perfect mask of tired grumpiness. Nearly.

They approach the door for the stairs, right next to the doors of the elevator that Iwaizumi pretends not to notice, despite how many times his eyes dart between them and Oikawa. Kyoutani is already waiting for the lift, slouched by the metal doors, but thankfully out of earshot from here.

Oikawa feels bad, watching Iwaizumi wait for his decision, trying to remain nonchalant when on the inside Oikawa knows he's practically exploding with nervous energy. He knows Iwaizumi isn't going to like it, but the pain growing in Oikawa's knee mixed with the absolutely dreadful thought of trying to make it up three flights of stairs forces the words from his mouth.

"Iwa-chan I'm sorry. I really don't think I can take the stairs today," Oikawa says, watching with a pained expression as Iwaizumi's face falls momentarily before returning to it's normal calm.

"It's fine," Iwaizumi replies, voice steady and calm even though his body language is screaming the opposite as he turns around.

"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to," Oikawa cuts in, lowering his voice as he follows Iwaizumi to the doors. "I don't mind. I can just meet you up there, really it's okay." Kyoutani glances over at them as they approach, looking annoyed but less so than usual. He looks even more exhausted than Oikawa feels, if that's possible. Oikawa is barely awake right now.

Iwaizumi shakes his head as he waits near Kyoutani for the doors to open. Oikawa really knew as much would happen, but he couldn't help but hope. Iwaizumi is claustrophobic to begin with, but elevators freak him out the worst. When he's with others on the team, he'll usually take the elevator with the group, not wanting to be a bother or raise questions. It makes him nervous and fidgety, but he manages.

If it's ever just him and Oikawa however, he always chooses the stairs over an elevator, which is usually no problem. They could've just waited behind for Kyoutani to leave so he wouldn't even notice. But, there are times like this where Oikawa can't use the stairs, and Iwaizumi has to use the elevator. Except he doesn't _have_ to at all, but Oikawa knows that the only thought worse for him than something horrible happening while they're in the elevator, is something horrible happening to Oikawa alone in an elevator while he waits helplessly outside.

The doors open slowly, and Kyoutani shuffles in, looking like he could honestly fall asleep standing up. Both of them step through after him and Oikawa hastily hits the button for the third floor, even though it's already going there, then the button to close the doors. The quicker this is over, the better.

It's silent, and Oikawa glances at Kyoutani to his right. His eyes are already closed, his head resting against the wall as he waits. He directs his gaze to Iwaizumi on his other side, busying his hands with a loose string on his bag as he stares intently at the rising number of the floors. That is, until the number stops rising at the second floor and decides to stay there.

"What the fuck," Iwaizumi says shakily, his breath beginning to quicken slightly as his eyes widen in panic. He stares at the glowing number two, waiting for it to move, but it doesn't. He looks around frantically, gaze lingering on Kyoutani before snapping up to Oikawa. 

"Fuck, seriously?" Kyoutani groans. "I just want to sleep in an actual bed. Shitty hotel."

"Oikawa, are we moving?" Iwaizumi asks, clearly trying to control the quiver in his voice as best he can as he continues to glance around the small space. " _No_ , no, no, no, no. We aren't moving, are we? We're stuck. Oh god, we’re fucking _stuck_. Shit, what if--"

"Iwa-chan, calm down. It's going to be fine," Oikawa cuts him off before he can take the thought any farther, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on."

Oikawa walks over and scans the buttons, finding the emergency service button and pushing it. There's a few seconds of silence before a voice crackles over a small speaker. 

_"Hello, what's the issue?"_ a calm and cheerful voice asks.

"Hi, me and my friends are stuck in the elevator," Oikawa says in a sickly sweet tone, not bothering to feign a smile for the disembodied voice. He can practically feel Kyoutani grimacing at his back. "I think we're stuck somewhere between the second and third floor."

 _"Okay, we'll try to get you out as soon as possible. Maintenance is on their way now,"_ the voice, most likely a woman, assures them. _"I apologize for the inconvenience."_

Before Oikawa can even think of a reply, he hears the woman hang up. He can't help but be a little offended as he huffs and turns back around.

Iwaizumi is sitting on the floor when Oikawa sees him again, eyes closed and his hands buried in his hair. Oikawa can hear his quick and ragged breaths from here, see the way he shakes just slightly.

"Well, here's the bright side!" Oikawa says, clapping his hands together with a grin he hopes is reassuring.

"Bullshit," Iwaizumi cuts in before Oikawa can even think of something to say. "There's no fucking bright side to being trapped in an elevator. Oh my god, we're going to die in here." By this point, he's already given up on sounding composed, despite Kyoutani's presence. 

"No we're not," Oikawa replies before he can go on, "Everything is going to be fine. They're already sending maintenance to get us out. It's fine." Despite his best efforts to sound reassuring, Iwaizumi's breathing has only quickened, becoming uneven. 

"It's _not_ fine," Iwaizumi says, voice cracking slightly as he shifts to put his elbows on his knees. "Nothing is fine! We're trapped in a _tiny fucking box_ , suspended on a wire, and we can't get out until maintenance gets here someday. What if they take too long, or they can't get us out? What if we _fall_?"

"Iwa-chan, calm down. We are not going to fall, and we shouldn't be in here too long. It's going to be alright."

"It could fall though, you don't know that we won't. Oh god," Iwaizumi says, a few tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Oikawa feels bad not knowing what to do to help him. He's only seen Iwaizumi like this a few times and it always makes Oikawa feel helpless. He hates seeing Iwaizumi break like this. He’s supposed to be the strong one. 

Oikawa shifts closer, sitting down beside him and resting a hand on his arm, and Iwaizumi lets him. He strokes him gently in an effort to calm him down, which doesn’t really work, but at least he doesn’t move away from Oikawa either. He even leans into the touch a little.

"Don't think about that, okay? Everything is fine, I promise," Oikawa says in a futile effort to reassure him. Oikawa has never broken a promise in his life, and Iwaizumi at least stops his arguing after that.

"Fuck, I can't _breathe_ ," Iwaizumi gasps out, "This fucking box is so damn _small_! There's not enough room to breathe in here, dammit. Shit," he says pushing on the wall with one of his hands as tears finally roll down his cheeks. 

And that's when the lights go out.

Oikawa lets out a short scream of surprise by accident, Iwaizumi makes a broken sound from wherever he is in front of Oikawa, and he can hear a startled gasp followed by a grumbled curse from somewhere behind him. He had almost forgotten Kyoutani was there at all.

"Seriously?" Iwaizumi croaks out, going into a choked off ramble of all his current worries about falling, and dying, and being trapped, and not being able to breathe. He can hear his hand still tapping and pushing on the wall. Oikawa tries to calm him down, but he's barely listening anyways. 

Oikawa turns around and sees the service button glowing softly in the pitch black around them. "Kyouken-chan, I'm going to the button. If I step on you it’s officially not my fault," Oikawa says stumbling to his feet.

Kyoutani grumbles something that Oikawa can't hear before a sudden white glow lights from a square in the corner. He realizes that it's Kyoutani's phone screen, illuminating most of the elevator in a dim light. It's not much, but it's enough for Oikawa to avoid stepping on Kyoutani's outstretched legs.

He presses the button and the same voice greets him.

"Hi, um, the lights went out," Oikawa says.

_"Oh, that's nothing to worry about. Emergency lights should come on in a minute or two."_

"Okay. Is maintenance here yet?" He asks, hopeful that they might get out soon. He's not even sure how long it's already been, but judging by the broken sounds of Iwaizumi behind him, it’s been too long.

 _"Yes, you should be out soon,"_ she says, hanging up before he can ask how long 'soon' is supposed to be. It was late enough when they got here to begin with. Not to mention, the sooner they're out, the sooner Iwaizumi can stop suffering. He feels awful for making him take the elevator. If he’d known this would’ve happened he would’ve gladly ran up twenty flights of stairs instead.

Oikawa slides back over to sit next to Iwaizumi, who isn't doing any better than before, maybe worse. His breathing is ragged and labored, sounding much too shallow. He can still hear him hiccup and sniffle, though his face is too dark to really see the tears that must still be falling.

"Iwa-chan, just breathe," Oikawa says gently, finding his shoulder and rubbing slowly. "Come on, it's okay. I promise. Deep breaths."

"I can't," Iwaizumi chokes out.

"Yes you can, I know you can," Oikawa replies, moving his hand down Iwaizumi's arm to find the shaking hand that isn’t currently scratching frantically at the wall. He laces his fingers with Iwaizumi's and Iwaizumi squeezes back hard.

"I can't, there's not enough air in here," he wheezes, and Oikawa can practically feel his heart break as he listens to Iwaizumi, feels his hand grasp desperately to Oikawa's. He hates being unable to help him when he’s like this, when he’s suffering. He hates this so much.“Did it get smaller in here? I think it got smaller, shit.”

"Five two five," Kyoutani suddenly says out of nowhere, startling Oikawa, who had, again, forgotten he was there. 

"What?" Oikawa asks, completely lost, and a little frustrated.

"Five two five," Kyoutani repeats. "Tell him to breathe in for five, hold for two, out for five. It'll at least slow his breathing and his heartrate down until the doors open. Count for him."

Oikawa sits there for a moment, a little surprised and maybe even some amount of skeptical, before doing as Kyoutani said, counting and helping Iwaizumi breathe in time with the numbers. It's rough at first, but eventually Iwaizumi is able to follow along, calming down to an extent. It’s probably the best they can do for him for now, better than before. At least he won’t pass out or something.

The emergency lights come on at some point to reveal that he's no longer crying, though his eyes are red and swollen and his cheeks are still stained with the tears he tries to wipe away with the hand not holding Oikawa’s. 

His breathing is almost normal again as the elevator suddenly lurches upwards, making all of them scream in shock before they realise the elevator is moving up again. 

Iwaizumi’s breathing picks up a little again at the sudden movement, but it slows as he lets out a long sigh of relief, realizing they aren’t about to fall to their deaths. Oikawa lets out a sigh of his own, practically melting into the floor, while Kyoutani grumbles something that sounds like finally. 

Slowly, Oikawa rises to his feet, dragging Iwaizumi up with him by the hand he still has a tight grip on. Iwaizumi is slow to rise and somehow looks even more worn out and exhausted than he did before this whole ordeal. His eyelids droop heavily as he pulls his hand away to try and wipe at his face.

Oikawa lets out another long sigh as he stretches, watching Iwaizumi stare at the doors until they open to reveal the wonderful sight of the third floor hallway. Iwaizumi practically runs out of the elevator, Oikawa following close behind and Kyoutani sauntering out after them. He still looks like he might fall over at any second from exhaustion, or maybe if you just poked him hard enough.

Once in the hallway, Iwaizumi puts his arms over his head and closes his eyes, taking a second to breathe properly again. Oikawa takes the opportunity to grab Kyoutani before he’s too far down the hallway. He latches gently onto his bag as he tries to walk away, earning him a confused scowl. It was probably meant to look more venomous, but it really just looks sleepy.

“What?” he grunts, slapping Oikawa’s hand away but not moving to leave. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“I just wanted to say thanks,” Oikawa tells him, genuine and honest. This tone of his voice that he so rarely uses seems to take Kyoutani by surprise, but he eventually just shrugs.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kyoutani mutters before turning towards the direction of his room, and this time Oikawa lets him go.

He turns back to see Iwaizumi leaning against the wall to the hallway, half asleep as he waits for Oikawa. Oikawa walks over and puts his hand back into Iwaizumi’s where it belongs before pulling him down the hallway.

“I’m sorry I put you through that,” Oikawa says finally, still a little guilty at the sight of his puffy eyes.

“It’s fine. You couldn’t have known what would happen,” Iwaizumi replies easily. “Besides, I could’ve taken the stairs if I wanted to.” Though Oikawa knows he wouldn’t have done that unless Oikawa did too.

“I know, but I’m still sorry.”

“You were limping, and you still are, dumbass. Of course we were going to take the elevator.” There’s a long pause before he continues. “And I’d still do it again.”

Oikawa has nothing to say to that. Instead he leans over and kisses Iwaizumi on the cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, thanks for reading, and thank you to anyone who leaves me comments or kudos! It makes my day :P


End file.
